


A Night To Remember

by fragilenights



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-16
Updated: 2018-07-16
Packaged: 2019-06-11 06:48:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15309756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fragilenights/pseuds/fragilenights
Summary: Prom is supposed to be a once in a life time opportunity that you’ll remember forever, but what happens when Eddie can’t seem to enjoy himself because of the distracting attention he is getting from his friend Richie? Eddie thinks he hates Richie for staring at him as Eddie dances among his peers, but his pounding heart begs to differ.





	A Night To Remember

The Losers’ Club was gathering at the Denbrough house for pictures before the Derry High Prom. Stan was pacing around stressed about his carefully made plans that were seeming to fall apart before his eyes given the fact that one member of the group was almost twenty minutes late. Stan was wearing a traditional black and white tux with a muted yellow tie. Bill was trying to calm Stan down by making sure Mrs. Denbrough was ready to take pictures of the group once they were all in attendance. Bill was dressed in a typical black and white tux too but instead he had an obnoxious turquoise blue tie. 

Mike was chatting with Beverly and an awestruck Ben. Ben didn’t have much to say due to the fact that his eyes were met with the beautiful sight of Beverly Marsh. Bev was donned in a long aline navy dress. The dress had a low v neck cut along with a daringly low v cut back. Her navy dress resembled the night sky with the light sparkle and shimmer embedded in the fabric. Her shoulder length auburn hair was pulled up into a bun with slight curls framing her face. She had simple, silver, dangly earrings and a necklace to match. Her makeup complimented her face but also reflected her daring personality. Ben was stood beside her in navy tux, adorned with a black bow tie, and a white shirt underneath. Mike had on a maroon suit jacket, black slacks, a white shirt underneath, and a skinny black tie. Under his arm was his date, Madison, who was dressed in a tight, lace, black dress that emphasized her every curve. 

Eddie wasn’t so social that night. He was standing alone staring out the window, awaiting Richie’s arrival. Now Eddie didn’t want to seem too eager to see Richie, but he just couldn’t help himself. Hell, this was one of the only times Richie would spend more than ten minutes on his appearance, and _goddamnit Eddie wasn’t going to let that go to waste!_

Eddie was fidgeting with the sleeves of his gray tux that were just a bit too long for his short figure. He had on a pastel pink bow tie and he left his hair to it’s natural state, slight curls appearing at the ends. Eddie moved his hands from his sleeves to the _friendship_ ring that matched the band upon Richie’s own middle finger. He twirled it around and then glanced down at the cheap metal, a slight smile finding it’s way to his face as he reminisced on when he and Richie got them. 

Suddenly Eddie was jarred from his daydream at the sound of the front door opening. In strutted the one and only, Richie Tozier. He raised his arm to push back his windblown curls that had fallen in front of his face. He was wearing an all black suit with a black undershirt, but he had an untied black tie with a pink floral pattern draped around his neck. Richie completed the look with a pair of classic black high top converse. The world seemed to slow down to Eddie as Richie’s eyes rose to meet his own. Coincidently the song, Take My Breath Away by Berlin was playing on the radio in the background. The song’s volume seemed to amplify as Eddie’s jaw dropped at the sight in front of him. Richie offered a cheeky grin to a very flustered Eddie. Eddie snapped out of his trance and quickly reached to grab his inhaler from his jacket pocket. Richie approached Eddie and wrapped his arm around his neck, putting the smaller boy into a loose headlock. A sigh of relief could be heard from Stan when Bill muttered “Fucking finally,” under his breath. 

“Hey! Look who finally decided to bless us with his presence,” shouted Mike, once his attention was directed towards the entry way. 

“Damn look at you, hot stuff!” Bev playfully exclaimed. Ben blushed slightly, but he knew that his date was loyal to his heart. Richie winked at Bev for this comment and shimmied the untied tie around his neck.

“Come on, I always look this hot. Tell her, Eds!” Richie teased. The rest of the group chuckled at the comment while a bashful Eddie awkwardly laughed along. Richie was lovingly glancing down at his friend still under his arm. Eddie playfully tried to swat at Richie’s chest, but Richie grabbed Eddie’s hand before he could make contact. Richie gave Eddie’s hand a slight squeeze before releasing it and removing his arm from Eddie’s shoulders. 

“Now I just have to figure out how to tie this damn tie,” Richie said as he walked backwards towards the bathroom. Eddie slowly followed Richie and quietly offered to help.

“R-rich, if you need any help I ca-”

Richie put his hands to his heart in an exaggerated motion and exclaimed, “Oh my dearest Spaghetti, would you ever be so kind to help a poor fellow like me with such a daunting task?” Richie squinted up his eyes in what looked like a failed attempt to be seductive. 

Eddie rolled his eyes as he moved to stand in front of Richie in the small bathroom. Eddie closed the door behind the two, because he told himself that it would allow for more room in the small bathroom. Not because he wanted a private moment with Richie, of course not. Eddie made quick work at starting the tie while Richie rambled on about his activities for the night. But Eddie wasn’t paying much attention to the words spewing out of the boy’s mouth because Eddie couldn’t seem to hear anything over the pounding of his own heart. Eddie had to focus solely on keeping his hands from shaking as he stood so close to his curly haired friend. 

Suddenly Eddie realized that the small room had become quiet, so he glanced up to see what had caused the silence. He was greeted with his friend’s eyes staring down at him. Richie smirked once he made eye contact with the smaller boy, and Eddie’s eyes darted back down to the tie as heat rushed to his face.

“Ya know I was going to say something about how I wished I could’ve taken your mom as my date, but I don’t think I need her when I have a cutie like you around,” Richie said with a slight smile upon his face.

“Oh shut up, Rich,” Eddie said as he tightened the tie around Richie’s neck.

Richie’s tone went scarily serious as he said, “no seriously, Eds. You look really nice.”

“Thanks. I’m surprised a trashmouth like yourself could clean up so well,” Eddie teased as he patted Richie’s chest slightly. Eddie finally raised his head to meet Richie’s eyes, but the smirk fell from Eddie’s face as he saw the lovestruck gaze on Richie’s face. 

Richie parted his lips as if he was about to speak, but he quickly silenced himself as he felt Eddie’s hand that had been resting on his chest move to grab the tie around his neck. Eddie slowly and gently pulled Richie down by his tie as he raised to stand on his tip toes. Eddie’s eyes began to flutter shut as their faces neared each other until the door to the bathroom flew open. 

“Hey guys, can you hur-oh!” Bill’s sudden presence in the room caused Eddie and Richie to fly apart from each other. 

“S-s-sorry, um I was just, uh..” Bill managed to stutter out as he lowered his eyes from the two boys and brought his hand to his neck. A slight pink color appeared on Bill’s cheeks as he realized he probably saw something that wasn’t meant for his eyes. “W-w-we need to um..t-take pictures soon…”

Richie stood for a second in pure bewilderment at the situation unfolding in front of him. Eddie stood a few steps away from Richie, his head hung to hide his scarlet cheeks. Suddenly Richie awoke from his trance and put a wide smile across his face. Richie pranced over to Bill and wrapped his arm around the smaller boy’s shoulders, guiding him from the bathroom doorway.

“No worries, Big Bill! Let’s go take those pictures, so you’ll mom will have something to admire this handsome face.” 

Eddie slowly followed after his friends, still awestruck from his actions. _What was he thinking? What did his brain expect to come from that? How far would he have gone if Bill wouldn’t have interrupted? Did Richie love the idea just as much as Eddie did?_

 The group gathered in the Denbrough living room to take pictures. At first Eddie tried to keep distance from Richie, for the fear that Richie was creeped out about Eddie’s intentions in the bathroom. But as the photos progressed Richie yanked Eddie towards him and held the smaller boy in his arms. Eddie giggled when Richie insisted they pose in the stereotypical prom date pose along side Ben with Bev and Mike with Madison. Eddie squirmed in Richie’s arms, so Richie moved his hands from Eddie waist to Eddie’s cheeks and squished them together like a mother would do to her baby. 

 “Stop it, Rich!” Eddie chucked and tried to swat away Richie’s hand. Richie once again grabbed Eddie’s hand and held it with his own. 

This had become a _thing_ , Richie grabbing Eddie’s hand. He didn’t know how he felt about the action, but he did know it made his stomach flip. Not to mention the increase in how often Richie would sneak into Eddie’s window and spend the night. Or how Richie insisted the two cuddle. Eddie didn’t know why all of this was happening, but he also didn’t complain. Richie stood behind Eddie with his arms draped around the boy’s shoulders. Richie continued to intertwine his fingers with Eddie’s until Bev yanked him away to pose together. 

  

* * *

 

Once the pictures were taken the group separated into Bill’s and Stan’s cars. Bev called shotgun with Bill and raced to his car, being followed by an anxious Ben. Eddie followed Stan to his car, knowing that Stan would be making it home sober. Richie followed after Eddies and groaned at the driver that he chose. 

 “Ugh come on, Eds! Do we have to go with Staniel?” Richie whined like a child.  

“You know you don’t have to follow Eddie around like a lost puppy? You can make your own decisions, Richie,” Stan said with a bit more attitude than was particularly necessary. Richie offered an awkward laugh along side a furrowed brow in response to the comment. In the car Eddie decided to sit shotgun as Richie third wheeled in the back with Mike and Madison. For the first five minutes of the drive Richie found himself with his arms crossed, moping about the previous comment from Stan.

This was until Eddie moved to turn up the volume on the car radio. Richie immediately recognized the song as one of the many songs he had shown Eddie during their weekly sleepovers. The song was “Friday I’m In Love” by The Cure, and Richie couldn’t help but smile as the smaller boy bobbed his head along to the beat of the song. This was one of the songs that the two would dance around in their socks to, sliding on the wooden floors of Eddie’s bedroom. Richie would always embarrass himself just so he could see the grin spread across Eddie’s face. 

The same grin appeared in front of his eyes as Eddie whipped his head around when the chorus of the song picked up. When the two boys made eye contact they simultaneously started belting the lyrics to the chorus, earning an irritated shout from their driver. Stan quickly reached to turn off the radio, but Eddie stopped him before he could while trying to stifle his laughs.

Madison was giggling next to Richie as Mike shook his head in shame. The girl spoke up after the laughter had died down a bit. 

“You two are really cute together by the way,” All of the noise in the car came to a halt after these words left her lips. Stan had to stifle down a laugh as he stared straight ahead at the road in front of him. Both of the boys in question began to stutter some kind of explanation that they were, in fact, not a couple. Mike quietly whispered something serious into his date’s ear, to reassure her that she wasn’t the first to make that mistake. 

For a matter of fact, there had been a lot of people who had thought the same exact thing. Ben had once accidentally brought up the topic when the Losers’ Club was having a movie night. It was responded with the fearful, feisty actions of an anxious Eddie, and the first time in years Richie had ever been speechless. 

Bev had also had a few not so sober conversations with Richie over the summer when they got high at the park. When Richie was under an influence he lost whatever small filter he had and seemingly always had something to say about how pretty Eddie’s eyes were. The night ended with Richie softly crying to Bev about how he didn’t want to be in love with his best friend because he didn’t want to ruin what he had with him. Bev had tried to reason with the poor boy, but Richie was certain that Eddie could never feel the same way towards him. 

Ever since then, the relationship between the two boys went unspoken. Everyone knew that the two were closer than friends should be, but no one dared to make sure the boys knew that. 

 

* * *

 

The sound of pounding music came flooding from the school gym as the seven teens approached the admittance desks at the entrance. Eddie’s eyes anxiously inspected the crowds that surrounded him. He could hear his heart hammering in his chest as his thoughts were filled with all that the night possibly had in store. He jumped in respond to a reassuring hand being placed on his shoulder, but he was put to ease when he met eyes with the hand’s owner, Richie. A small  comforting smile danced upon and lips and was returned by Eddie. As Eddie stood among his talkative friends, not really listening to what was being discussed, he began to question why he even went to prom in the first place. He wasn’t one to typically go to parties, he was a total stick in the mud, and he began to realize how uncomfortable he was by the entire idea. He knew that Beverly and Ben would be fawning over each other all night long, and the same was bound to happen between Mike and his date. Richie and Bill were likely going to quickly wander off and find some girls to flirt very poorly with. That would leave him and Stan. Now Eddie did love Stan, but awkwardly standing around with Stan wasn’t the most ideal way to spend the night. _What would the two boys even talk about?_ One could only talk about how annoying Richie was for _so_ long. In Eddie’s opinion, the night was bound to end in failure. 

He was dragged from his thoughts as he realized he was next in line to hand his ticket to the lady at the desk. She allowed for his admittance, and Eddie’s heartbeat raced even fast, if that was evenly humanly possible. 

Bev excitedly raced to the dance floor, dragging Ben along behind her. Noticing his nerves, Richie quickly wrapped his arm around Eddie’s shoulders and led him through the doorway. 

Their typical drab gymnasium had every inch covered in some sort of decoration. White and Gold balloons decorated the far wall, streamers and lights hung from the ceiling. A make shift photo booth was set up in the corner, punch and snacks were lining the opposite wall, tables were cluttered in a different corner of the gym, and a medium sized crowd had already flooded the dance floor in the middle. “Waterfalls” by TLC was filling the room and Eddie spied Richie jokingly shimming to the music, which caused a small roar of laughter from Bill and Madison. Eddie chuckled and rolled his eyes at the lame actions. Richie caught Eddie’s judgmental look and raised his eyebrow at him with a smirk. Eddie’s eyes widened in fear as Richie grabbed his hands and pulled him flush to his body and backed them towards the dance floor.

 Eddie unsuccessfully tried to squirm from Richie’s grip, but was faced with Richie’s hands moving to his hips, guiding him to dance. Eddie resisted the actions and tried his best to remain stationary. Sadly, he let his guard down as he laughed at Richie’s poor attempt to rap along to the song. The sound of Eddie's laugh broad a wide smile to Richie's face and a twinkle to his eyes. With the sudden relax of muscle, Richie took his chance and shook Eddie’s body a bit to force him to move. Eddie laughed but decided it was better to comply, knowing that Richie wouldn’t be giving up anytime soon. 

The two boys awkwardly danced around as best as two high school nerds could, but to the two of them nothing else mattered. They were probably making fools of themselves, but they were having fun and that was all that mattered.

Eddie thought that he was going to have a horrible time but instead he spent a good fifteen minutes enjoying himself on the dance floor, until he couldn't ignore the gnawing in the back of his head anymore. After the first song, Eddie had been pulled away from Richie to dance with Bill and Mike, which he openly accepted. Since then, Eddie had felt Richie's eyes burning two holes into the back of Eddie's head. Eddie kept trying to steal glances over at Richie to make sure he wasn't just imagining things, but every time he was met by Richie's longing stare. 

Eddie had had it with Richie's blatant staring, so he decided to stare right back. When Richie finally noticed he had been caught his expression slowly turned into a nervous smirk. Eddie was just going to glare at the boy and leave him alone until Richie's expression changed yet again. Eddie slowly looked up to meet Richie's eyes and he was met with that _look_. That _look_ frequently came upon Richie's face whenever they were alone together. If Eddie laughed or giggled about something, Richie would have the _look_. If Eddie sat contently for once in his anxiety ridden life, Richie would have the _look_. Eddie had never been able to tangibly place the emotion Richie felt that led him to have that _look_ , but he always seemed to run from it. But suddenly, in the stuffy, sweaty gym, Eddie began to truly understand what that _look_ meant, and he had never felt more conflicted in his life. His heart began to hammer in his chest and his palms began to sweat. He suddenly realized he couldn't breathe, so he quickly reached for his inhaler and ran out of the gym to the nearby empty hallway. 

Eddie could hear Richie calling after him as he darted through the crowds, and he began to curse him in his head.

_Why the hell did Richie have to screw everything up?_

_Why couldn't Richie just keep it in his pants for a once?_

_Why did Richie have to be so fucking attractive?_

_And why in the world did Eddie have to be in love with him?_

Eddie wasn't surprised when Richie's body came flying through the door and Richie fractically flug himself onto Eddie. 

"Are you okay, Eds? Are you having an asthma attack? What happened?"

Eddie simply responded by using his inhaler and turning away from the other boy. Richie furrowed his brow as he realized that something else was going on.

"Hey-" Richie softly said as he reached out to grab Eddie's elbow. But Eddie acted as if he was burned by Richie's touch and yanked his arm away. Eddie's anger always seemed to get the best of him, but it was easier to push people away sometimes instead of directly dealing with his own emotions. Eddie closed his eyes and sighed as he felt Richie entire being almost shrink from the pain he felt from Eddie's rejection. 

Eddie quickly turned around and began to apologize, but he was interrupted by the song in the gymnasium changing. 

Their ears suddenly filled with the familiar sound of an 80's synthesizer and a guitar. The song was "True" by Spandau Ballet, a classic 80's love song. This song also had a deeper meaning to the two boys, which they both seemed to recognize as they slowly smirked to each other. When Richie and Eddie were just kids they used to listen to music through Maggie Tozier's record player and stupidly sing along, but this song always seemed so calming to the two young children. It was a song that began to represent their friendship and bring them a feeling of belonging. 

When the vocals in the song slowly came in, Richie lowered his head once again to gaze upon Eddie, searching through his eyes to make sure he didn't fuck everything up. 

"May I have this dance?" Richie said in his English Voice, along with a bow. Eddie giggled and curtsied back, suddenly forgetting all of his anger from the dork in front of him. 

Eddie took Richie's extended hand and place them around his own waist. Eddie reached his hands up to link around Richie's neck and slightly delve into the hair at the nape of his neck. Eddie's cheeks quickly filled with a rosy blush, and Richie's pupils were the size of saucers. 

The two slowly swayed in place, and while the dance wasn't anything too spectacular to an observer, to them it was a monumental moment in their relationship. They spent the entire song in silence while they searched each other's faces for any false readings of the situation. Both boys were terrified that their feelings were unrequited, and they cared too much about each other to ruin their friendship. 

As the song slowly approached its ending, Eddie noticed that Richie's eyes had become fixated with Eddie's lips. Eddie heard the voice in his head tell him to _"run away from that dirty boy,"_ but he pushed the thoughts away and whispered, "Fuck it," before lifting himself to his toes and meeting the taller boys lips with his own.

Even though Richie had been daydreaming about kissing Eddie for years now, he was in no way, shape, or form prepared for what was happening. Richie had had his own flings in his high school career, but no kiss ever came close to the feeling he had when his lips met Eddie's.

Their first kiss together wasn't perfect by any means, but it had it's own magic hidden away in its peculiar nature. The kiss was at first a bit to aggressive on Eddie's end, due to the impulsivity of his actions, and Richie had just stood there for a second in complete shock. Quickly Richie caught on to what was happening and eagerly kissed Eddie back. Eddie chuckled against Richie's mouth due to Richie's hungry nature, yet that didn't stop him. Richie reached up to run his hand through Eddie's hair, and he pulled Eddie's body flush against his own, not being able to get close enough. 

The kiss was sweet. It was sweet and youthful and better than either of them could have ever imagined. They eventually had to pull away to breathe, but they didn't move far as Richie rested his forehead upon Eddie's. Eddie watched as Richie closed his eyes and took a deep breath with the biggest smile on his face. Richie could taste Eddie's strawberry chapstick on his lips, and he was having a hard time believing he wasn't dreaming.

Richie slowly opened one of his eyes with a sideways smirk, peeking down at the smaller boy cartoonishly, and whispered, "Pinch me, Eds," which earned a laugh from Eddie in return. Eddie threw his head back with the laugh, but Richie kept his strong grip on Eddie's hips, making sure they stayed close. 

"You're such a dork, Rich," Eddie said with smiling eyes. He settled his left hand around the back of Richie's neck once again, slowly playing with his curls, as his other hand reached up to cup Richie's cheek. "But, you're my dork."


End file.
